Life After Death/Issue 3
"Who the hell are you two?" Eric said as he walked towards the group emerging from the forest, the other three people following behind him. He stopped mere feet away from them, and placed his left hand on a machete that was in it's sheath, hanging to his side. "I'm Devon," he said. "This is Leslie." "Just what the hell are you doing all the way out here?" "We were attacked on the road and we ran into the forest." "We were scouting the forest, and we heard gunshots," Emily said. "We ran in to help. We were just in time, they were swarmed." One of the men from the field walked up behind Eric, and looked at Leslie's leg, noticing the towel wrapped around it. He pulled out his revolver, and pointed it at her. "What the hell is that towel for?" he asked. "Were you bit?" "No!" she said in a panic. "I tripped and cut it on a tree root." "Bill," Eric said. "Put your gun down. Even if she was bitten, she ain't gonna leap at you and try to bite you. They gotta die first." "I know what happens," he retorted, and put his gun back in his holster. "How bad's the cut?" "Bad," Leslie replied. "It's deep." "I'll get you some antibiotics, let you rest here a whi-." "Wait, what?" the man with the axe interrupted. "You're really going to let them join? No. That's not happening, not after last time. Not after Mark...not after-" "I didn't say they were going to join us. I know what happened with Mark, and I assure you, I never plan to let something like that happen again. However, we have a lot of medication, and this little girl has a cut on her leg. She can hardly walk, you saw the way she was limping. We can't exactly send them on their merry way while she's in that state, especially not if they'll be out there getting swarmed again. They can stay here for a few days while they rest up. It looks like they both could use it." "We saved their lives, that's more than enough help." "I have to agree with Andre here," an older man with graying-black hair and a stern gaze said. "Even letting them stay for a few days is risky." "You think these two are killers, Gregory?" Eric questioned. "Not necessarily, but I didn't think Mark was either. We can't go around giving away our supplies to any random strangers we happen to come across. If we're going to be that stupid, we might as well just say goodbye to it all right now." "Alright. Say we tell them to take a hike, then, say...a few days down the line, we find them - dead. Now, I don't know about you, but I sure as hell'd feel like a piece of shit knowing that a little girl and a young man died because I was too selfish to give them a little medicine and rest when they need it. Now, any more objections?" Eric turned at looked at each of his group members. "Okay, it's settled, then. They're staying, at least for a few days." ---- Inside one of the tents, the young woman and Eric tended to Leslie's leg. "Brie, hand me the peroxide," Eric said to the woman. Brie opened up a blue first aid kit and pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She handed it to Eric, and he pulled off the cap. "This is going to hurt a bit," he told Leslie. "But it will help a lot." She nodded, and he poured it onto her cut. It started bubbling, and Leslie started panicking. "Don't worry, that's good. It means it's fighting the infection. Alright, I'm gonna go check in on the others. I'll leave you with Brie." Eric walked out of the tent, leaving the two girls to talk. "Your name is Leslie, right?" Brie asked. "Yeah," she replied. "How old are you?" "Thirteen." "I remember when I was thirteen...I was so stupid." Both girls laughed. Outside, Devon was sitting on the ground behind one of the empty tents. He had the two bags beside him. Emily walked around the corner, and spotted the bags. "That's a lot of supplies," she said. "Yeah," Devon replied. "Me and Gregory are cooking up some soup, do you or your sister want any?" "Oh, not for me, thanks. Leslie might...Emily, right?" "Yeah, and your name was Devon?" Devon nodded while he stared into the forest. "Are you okay?" "Honestly? No. I almost died out there...I almost got my sister killed. I made a stupid move and screwed everything up." "What even happened to you guys? Why were you in the forest?" "We were raiding a store when I...tripped. I landed on my keys and put our car in panic mode. I attracted a swarm of them and crashed my car in the forest when we tried to leave...then, Leslie fell and cut her leg. Then we got swarmed...if you hadn't been there...thank you." "Don't mention it. I'm not the kind of person to leave someone in trouble like that." There was a brief silence. "I'm not a murderer...I haven't killed anyone, well, I had to kill my aunt, but she already died from a bite. I know you guys said you have had trouble in the past with strangers...but I promise, we won't cause any trouble." "I'm sorry, Devon, but that's not my call." "Can you at least put in a good word for me? I promised her that we would find a safe place, somewhere we could survive, somewhere we wouldn't have to keep running." "I'll try my best. If it means anything, I believe you." "Thank you." "No problem." Emily said as she walked off. A few minutes later, Devon got up, and walked back to the fire. He came across the man with the crowbar, who was sitting on a chair, drinking a beer. "Hey, uh..." Devon said, realizing he didn't know his name. "Dolph," he said. "And you're Devon, right?" "Yeah. Thanks for saving me out there." "No problem, man. Always happy to help a fellow man in need." Dolph grabbed a can of beer from a bag beside him. "Want a beer?" "No thanks, I'm not a big alcohol fan." "It's cool, to each their own. Do you like football?" "Yeah. Well, I don't like watching, but I like playing." "Oh, sweet. I found some gear and a football a while back. I was hoping I'd meet someone who's into it. We've gotta play a game sometime. Maybe we could convince Eric and Andre to play, too." "Sounds good." ---- Devon walked over to the tent Leslie was in. Inside, Bill and Brie were wrapping her leg up in gauze. "Hey, Devon," Leslie said. "Hey," he replied. "Are you guys just finishing up?" "Yeah, give us a second." Bill finished wrapping it around and tied the end up in a little knot, cutting the rest off and putting it back in the first aid kit. He stood up and gestured for Devon to follow him outside. "Come on, I need to talk to you." Right outside the tent, Bill stopped Devon. "Look," he said. "I'm sorry for pointing a gun at you and your sister. I thought she was bit and...sometimes I act a bit, eh, impulsive." "It's alright, I understand," Devon responded. "Your name was Bill, right?" "Bill Oberson." "My best friend's name was Bill. Bill Rooney. He was a big pothead, but a good friend. I miss him." "Did he die?" "No, I don't know what happened to him. After my aunt died and we fortified her house, I went looking for him at his house. He wasn't there." "Well I'm awfully sorry for that." "It's alright, you don't need to be sorry." "Well, it's going to be dark soon. Emily said you two could sleep in her tent." "Is there enough room?" "Oh, yeah, it's a pretty big tent." "Alright, thanks." "Don't thank me." ---- Meanwhile, outside the tent Leslie and Brie were in, Eric approached Andre, who was sitting on an overturned log by the fire. "Andre," Eric called out. "I know you don't want history to repeat. Believe me, I don't either." "You don't understand," Andre said. "You didn't lose someone you cared about...you didn't have to find your wife...dead." "No, I did not. I know that you don't want to trust more strangers, but really, what harm could some teenager and a little girl cause?" "You said the same thing..." "I know, but I don't want to argue." "Then why did you come talk to me?" "I want you to keep an eye on those two. If anything does, in fact, go south...I give you permission to kill them." Credits * * * * * * * * * Deaths *None Trivia *First mention of . *First mention of . *First mention of .